{"id":774690,"date":"2025-02-14T08:41:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T08:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=774690"},"modified":"2025-02-18T10:29:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T10:29:42","slug":"film-review-brutalism-with-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul","title":{"rendered":"Film review: Brutalism with soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

An architect and his client survey the raw beauty and majesty of a marble quarry in Carrara. A hand and face are delicately pressed up against the cold, hard surface of the glistening white rock with great reverence. This is an affecting scene in The Brutalist<\/em>, which is also laden with the kind of gravitas and underlying tension that can only be earned through the highest level of filmmaking.<\/p>\n

Tipped for Oscar success, the film represents an intense study of an architect during an epochal shift for global architecture, as the Modernist movement was accelerated through the diaspora of European practitioners to the West after the Second World War.<\/p>\n

This might be one of the most nuanced and well-balanced portrayal of an architect ever to appear on the big screen. Sadly, the bar has been set very low by Hollywood. Before watching The Brutalist<\/em>, I decided to research different representations of the profession and it appears that architects fall neatly into two camps: romantic leads or troubled geniuses.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Film still<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n

The likes of Tom Hanks (Sleepless in Seattle<\/em>), Steve Martin (Housesitter<\/em>), Keanu Reeves (Knock Knock, The Lake House<\/em>) and Tom Selleck (Three Men and a Baby<\/em>, perhaps the hunkiest architect ever committed to film) have all acted with the right balance of manly building prowess alongside a sensitive and creative side, while female protagonists such as Michelle Pfeiffer (One Fine Day<\/em>) and Virginia Madsen (Firewall<\/em>) have architecture as a backdrop to explore their busy work-life balance. All of the above are ultimately seeking love and fulfilment outside of their work. None of them date other architects.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all aware of the darker side, as maniacal tendencies take over and everything is sacrificed on the altar of the grand projet<\/em>. Unfortunately, this negative stereotype was set early in the history of cinema when Ayn Rand\u2019s The Fountainhead<\/em> was adapted in 1949. Gary Cooper\u2019s Howard Roark casts a long shadow over our cultural consciousness, with his ridiculous caricature phrases such as \u2018My reward, my purpose, my life, is the work itself\u2019. These difficult and arrogant individuals appear again and again: Jeremy Irons in High-Rise<\/em>, Cate Blanchett in Where\u2019d You Go<\/em>, Bernadette<\/em> and, most recently, Adam Driver in the much-derided Megalopolis<\/em>. They stand aloof from society and dismissive of the trivial concerns of average citizens.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Film still<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n

Adrien Brody reaches beyond these stereotypes while also touching upon all of them. He is vulnerable, loving and has clearly suffered great trauma. But, when he is given the chance to build, there is a rapid re-emergence of confidence and authority. He believes fervently in his designs and the work has a dangerous power over him that is electrifying to watch.<\/p>\n

Brody plays the fictional architect L\u00e1szl\u00f3 T\u00f3th, who has emigrated to America from Hungary to escape the horrors back home. At one point, we find out that he studied at the Bauhaus, so those of us who know our modern architectural history would expect him to be throwing up Seagram Towers in no time. Instead, he is whisked off to Philadelphia by a well-meaning cousin and things do not start out well. He is soon reduced to manual labour and doesn\u2019t seem to have the energy or commitment to pursue a proper career. The war has broken his spirit and he longs for the loved ones left behind.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Film still<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n

A chance opportunity to redesign a library for local industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (played with a wicked fury by Guy Pearce) starts a chain of events that will lead to a much larger commission. However, this is a conservative era when Americans are suspicious of foreigners and radical ideas. Despite this, Van Buren is swept up by the talent of his beleaguered designer and repeatedly states that he finds their conversations so \u2018intellectually stimulating\u2019. T\u00f3th is grateful for his luck but there is a tension between the admiration for his art and his role as an indentured servant.<\/p>\n

Putting the incredible cinematography and hypnotic score to one side, I was delighted to see the actual processes of a building project revealed in full, including site analysis, public consultation, cost-cutting, difficult contractors, frustrating executive architects, material samples and an exquisite scene where L\u00e1szl\u00f3 builds and then reveals a model of his proposal out of white card. He artfully lights it from above with a torch to convey the beauty of his minimalist interiors.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Publicity postcard of fictional building by L\u00e1szl\u00f3 T\u00f3th: a community centre for Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Drawing by John Burgoyne, courtesy of Focus Features\/Universal Pictures<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n

Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time but I didn\u2019t want the film to end. It is disturbing and sumptuous in equal measure, with a sufficient amount of respect for the craft. Nit-pickers will question whether the titular architect is in fact creating Brutalist buildings or something much closer to High Modernism. Like most good films \u2013 and this film is really rather good \u2013 the title has multiple meanings and it\u2019s up to all of us to decide upon our own interpretations, just as, perhaps, we each read or understand a building in different ways.<\/p>\n

As we are tempted to judge the fictional architecture in the film, it\u2019s important to remember the famous quote that Jaws<\/em> was not actually a film about a shark. We go on a journey with an immigrant fleeing persecution and finding his way in a strange land that instinctively wants to reject his ideas and approach. Suddenly, The Brutalist doesn\u2019t feel like a period piece anymore.<\/p>\n

Rob Fiehn is a writer and communications consultant specialising in architecture and design<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An architect and his client survey the raw beauty and majesty of a marble quarry in Carrara. A hand and face are delicately pressed up against the cold, hard surface of the glistening white rock with great reverence. This is an affecting scene in The Brutalist, which is also laden with the kind of gravitas …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59337,"featured_media":774694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[702],"tags":[1456,76371,1486],"yoast_head":"\nFilm review: Brutalism with soul<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time of The Brutalist but Rob Fiehn didn\u2019t want the film to end\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Film review: Brutalism with soul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time of The Brutalist but Rob Fiehn didn\u2019t want the film to end\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-14T08:41:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-18T10:29:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/13153908\/TheBrutalist_Image3_AdrienBrodyIsaachDeBankoleGuyPearce-scaled-e1739522472665-1024x684.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"684\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob Fiehn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fran Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul\",\"name\":\"Film review: Brutalism with soul\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-14T08:41:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-18T10:29:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6\"},\"description\":\"Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time of The Brutalist but Rob Fiehn didn\u2019t want the film to end\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Film review: Brutalism with soul\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News & Buildings\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6\",\"name\":\"Fran Williams\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/72d9b8e837c55e40de346af219f43183\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fran Williams\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/fran-williams-3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Film review: Brutalism with soul","description":"Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time of The Brutalist but Rob Fiehn didn\u2019t want the film to end","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Film review: Brutalism with soul","og_description":"Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time of The Brutalist but Rob Fiehn didn\u2019t want the film to end","og_url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul","og_site_name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","article_published_time":"2025-02-14T08:41:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-18T10:29:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":684,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/13153908\/TheBrutalist_Image3_AdrienBrodyIsaachDeBankoleGuyPearce-scaled-e1739522472665-1024x684.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Rob Fiehn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fran Williams","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul","name":"Film review: Brutalism with soul","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-14T08:41:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-18T10:29:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6"},"description":"Some viewers may baulk at the three-and-a-half-hour running time of The Brutalist but Rob Fiehn didn\u2019t want the film to end","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/practice\/culture\/film-review-brutalism-with-soul#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Film review: Brutalism with soul"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/","name":"The Architects\u2019 Journal","description":"Architecture News & Buildings","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1570dce5388724b11951af0e49b4a9b6","name":"Fran Williams","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/72d9b8e837c55e40de346af219f43183","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f902cd311bbf22a57f61aed9c899209?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fran Williams"},"url":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/author\/fran-williams-3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774690"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":775369,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774690\/revisions\/775369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}